Otumno

Act I — Project

The full narrative design process,
start to finish

This concept portfolio documents the complete narrative design process for Otumno, a dark medieval fantasy ARPG where every choice echoes through a corrupted kingdom. Built under AAA industry mentorship over 8 weeks, covering research, documentation, and deliverables for cross-functional team use.

By the numbers

What was built

150+ character barks. 38 dialogue nodes. 6 quest endings. 4 fully documented locations. Every deliverable formatted for art teams, design teams, and VO studios.

What I did

End-to-end narrative design

Characters built from Jungian archetypes. Dialogue designed for player agency. Locations built for both story and gameplay function. Every deliverable formatted for team handoff.

Quest branching dialogue writing, design, and implementation

Character bios, barks, and voice-over scripts

Character design (archetypes, weapons, combat)

Location and building design

World-building and game cartography

Storyboarding and script design

Act III — Characters

Four characters.
Four archetypes.

Each character is built from a Jungian archetype. Their barks, bios, and design documents are formatted for voice acting and animation teams. Combat function and character personality are inseparable — that's the design constraint.

Tragic Hero — Age 23

Dimas

The Fallen Soldier

A former regiment leader turned slave. Once the King's most trusted captain, Dimas discovered the dark pact that fuels Kaffar's conquest. Branded a traitor, he fights to expose the truth, even if it costs him everything.

• Dual combat identity: trained soldier precision vs desperate survivor brutality
• Character arc mirrors player's moral choices throughout the game
• Voice lines shift from confident commands to hardened survival instincts

Weapon:Scourge Whip & Sickle — slave farm tools repurposed for lethal mid-range combat.

Mentor Figure

Goddek

The Reluctant Healer

Stoic, moral, wise. A mage with healing skills. She aids Dimas not out of loyalty to any cause, but because she cannot stand idle while the world corrupts around her.

• Combat healing creates strategic depth and player dependency
• Medical-themed barks ('Time of death: 11:24pm') add dark humour
• Staff and scalpel combo reflects healer-turned-fighter progression

Weapon:Koru Staff & Scalpel — emerald-caged healing staff and surgical scalpel.

Shadow Tyrant — Age 55

King Kaffar

The Corrupted Ruler

Power hungry and in thrall to dark magic. His corruption spreads like a plague across the land, and only those closest to him know the true cost of his reign.

• Boss mechanics tie into his narrative of consuming power at any cost
• Barks reveal philosophical narcissism ('Kings die, but gods live forever')
• Visual corruption in armour design mirrors his spiritual decay

Weapon:Blood Oath Sword — boss moveset: Slash, Stab, and Otumno's Scepter defense.

Apparent Antagonist — Age 48

Sirrus

The Village Leader

Loyal, brave, and confident with a strict moral code. Former Captain of the Kaffar Army and now Village Leader. Ordained into leadership from a young age, pitted against the Kingdom, leaving the King with a dangerous decision.

• Player choice determines whether they are forced or go willingly against the 'usurper'
• King Kaffar accuses Sirrus of courting demons — while Sirrus accuses the King
• Player must uncover the truth: is their village leader a madman?

Weapons:Captain's Broadsword (two-handed, gold accents) & Soldier's Bow with leather quiver.

Act II — Storyboard

Shot 1

The Siege

Opening Sequence

Extreme long shot of a Trebuchet attacking the castle walls.

Shot 2

The Map

Exposition

King Kaffar plotting invasion on a tactical map.

Shot 3

The Reveal

Inciting Incident

Acolytes summoning dark magic in the Throne Room.

Shot 4

The Blight

Environmental Storytelling

Corruption decaying a flower in real-time.

Shot 5

The Lie

Narrative Irony

Peasants rejoicing, unaware of the King's dark pact.

Shot 6

The Ritual

The Twist

The heir courts the darkness again.

Act IV — The World

The Kaffari Kingdom

Every location in Otumno carries narrative weight. The corrupted castle halls, the struggling villages, the cursed landscape: each is designed to tell the story without dialogue.

Exterior

Kaffar Castle Town

The bustling settlement in the shadow of the castle.

Exterior

Kaffar Castle

Main enemy stronghold. Dark Medieval Fantasy style.

Exterior

Molten & Sons Blacksmith

Blacksmith for weapon upgrades and purchases.

Interior

Healing Tent

A place of respite and recovery. Healing, Mana & Potions marketplace.

• Designed sectors as both memorable story environments and a natural boundary for scope
• Created locations centred on the natural progression of resource needs for gameplay
• Divided key quest locations across the world to encourage exploration and expansion
• Wrote a location key to indicate names and faction status at the start of the game

Act V — Dialogue

Linear and branching dialogue

Every dialogue node in Arcweave responds to player history, faction standing, and previous choices. Player agency is structural, not cosmetic. No conversation exists in isolation.

Quest Design

Each quest begins with a clear objective but offers multiple paths to resolution. Player choice impacts both immediate outcomes and long-term relationships.

Branching Logic

Using Arcweave, dialogue trees respond to player history, faction standing, and previous choices. No conversation exists in isolation.

Character Voice

Each character has a distinct voice derived from their background, archetype, and relationship to the central conflict.

Arcweave Implementation

38 dialogue nodes built in Arcweave, fully connected with conditional logic and player-state variables.

Design foundations

Influences & methodology

Character construction, world design, and player agency each draw from a consistent set of frameworks rather than intuition alone.